Experienced Residential Painter — White Oak Painting (Burlington & SE Iowa)
This job isn't for everyone. If it's for you, you'll know it by the end of this page.
Most job ads hand you a list of requirements. This one is going to describe a person — because we hire for who you are first, and we'll build on the rest.
You take pride in doing things right. Not because someone's watching, but because you'd know if you didn't. When you finish a room, you step back and actually look at it — the clean cut-in, the caught drip, the corner nobody inspects. "Good enough" doesn't sit well with you.
You show up when you say you will. Your word means something.
And you actually care about the people whose homes you're in. Making a space feel new again is work you can be proud of — and you treat a client's house like it's your own.
There seems to be a fire in you. A fire of drive. A drive to show up well, do great work, and give your absolute best effort every day. Not for the sake of impressing anyone, but rather to satisfy the internal desire to know that you’re working in a way that you can feel proud of.
If that's you, keep reading.
Who We Are
White Oak Painting is a family-run residential painting company based in Burlington, serving homeowners across southeast Iowa. We've built our name on craftsmanship, clear communication, and treating every home like it's our mom's and every client like a friend.
We don't just hire painters. We hire people who fit. These are the four values we hold each other to — and they're not words on a wall, they're how we work every day:
- We Own It. All of It. No excuses, no blame. When something's wrong, we make it right — whether we caused it or not.
- We Win Together. We share what we know, cover each other on the hard days, and rise as a team.
- We Sweat the Details. Excellence is the job description. The homeowner can't always see the difference. We always can.
- We Care Like It's Personal. The care we show is real, and the client experience is the product.
What You'll Do:
- Deliver high-quality interior and exterior residential painting with real precision
- Prep job sites and communicate clearly and professionally with homeowners
- Work alongside a tight crew that holds a high standard — and grow toward leading one
- Take ownership of your work and represent White Oak in people's homes
We're hiring an experienced painter on a lead track. You don't have to lead a crew on day one — but if running a small team is where you want to go, we'll build that path with you.
FAQs:
Travel? :We serve Burlington, Iowa and a 40 mile radius.
Hours? : we typically work Monday through Friday 7:30 AM to 4 PM. Some days this might go longer depending on where a good stopping point is.
What if I need childcare? : We recommend you have a great childcare option in place as well as a backup option if that falls through as well as as a secondary backup option if both fall through.
Do you offer PTO? Yes, on an accrual basis.
Do you offer vacation pay? Yes we pay for all of our team members to have the day off for the four major holidays per year.
Do we cover our own gas in the work vehicles? No we cover gas in all white oak painting vehicles.
What You'll Get:
- Full-time, year-round employment — no seasonal layoffs, no guessing about your hours
- Starting pay: $19–$25/hour, depending on incoming skill, with a clear path to earn more through skill increase and project bonuses. The payment model here is a base + commission pay model. We do NOT pay traditional straight hourly pay. We pay our painting crews like we would a subcontractor, just with much more benefits and coverage than a subcontractor. We cover all the tools, insurance, overhead, work vans, etc. If we pay a sub $8,000 labor for a project, that’s what we pay whether the job takes them 5 days or 9 days. If they‘re efficient and it get‘s done in 5, they technically earn more per day. Longer? They earn less per day. Efficiency is clearly incentivized. Our w-2 model is the same. Instead of a budget of $8,000 this is communicated through a number of “project hours” available for the job. If the job for a two person crew is budgeted for 150 hours, and for two people that’s 9 days, if the team is efficient and they own the budget and want to work hard, they will most likely get it done in 7-8 days. For the 150 hours the $ budget would be about $4,000. If it get‘s done in 115 hours, about 7 days with two people, we still pay $4,000. Where does that extra thousand dollars go? To the crew! So in that week, those two people each get an extra $500 each on top of their hourly base. They worked hard and moved quickly while not compromising quality they planned the project and executed with efficiency, they ordered supplies and did not have to make material runs. They got in, worked hard, and crushed the job and the customer was super happy. With great rewards also comes great risk. Since we are only paying $4000 for labor on that job, that means if the team does not work efficiently, or if they mess up on something and have to redo it and they don’t plan accordingly, or they are scattered and disorganized and each day, and if they don’t think through needs and make four trips to Lowe’s and they go over on their hours…..they are still only getting paid $4000 for the project. What’s that look like? That looks like getting paid less than your base pay like a sub gets paid less each day technically if they take longer. Same payment, more days. However, we do provide a safety floor for our W-2 team. If a project goes over budget, we will never pay you less than four dollars an hour below your base. How does this work with family budgets? If you’re a winner, you will most often be earning bonuses. We recommend creating a bonus savings account at your bank, and then every three months using half of it for whatever you would like. Maybe a vacation for your family? Maybe a new set of golf clubs? Maybe a new compound bow? But then you would always leave half in the account just in case you went over budget on a job, you can borrow from the savings account to fill the gap in your paycheck. This creates a buffer in the case of a miss while you’ll most often be winning! If there is a budget miss by the crew, there is a safety floor in the case, and there is no cap on earnings on the upside!
- This model is NOT for everyone. If you’re a come to work, clock in, do my 8hrs and go home, pay me the same each week I want consistency and just come to work and work, and go home., this job is NOT for you. However, if you have drive to succeed and you believe that if you work smarter and harder you should get paid more, you’ll love it here.
- Transparent pay progression — you'll always know exactly what you need to do to earn more
- A real career path: Painter → Senior Painter → Crew Lead → Management
- Hands-on training from an experienced team that genuinely wants to see you succeed
- A culture where your time, effort, and work are respected — every day
- Who We're Looking For:
- Experience in high-quality residential painting
- Someone who takes pride in doing things right, not just getting them done
- Genuine pride in craftsmanship and a sharp eye for detail
- Someone who genuinely enjoys being of service to others
- Someone eager to learn, humble and open to feedback, and committed to improving
- Someone reliable — you show up on time, ready to work, every time
- Someone coachable, ambitious, and glad to be of service to people
- Someone who doesn’t have to have it their way all the time.
- Someone who takes ownership and does not act like a victim
- A valid driver's licence vehicle (required — we travel to job sites across SE Iowa)
- Comfortable with a smartphone and open to using technology and AI on the job
- How to Apply
- Send an email to [email protected]
- Tell us:
- 1. A little about yourself and your background.
- 2. Why you're drawn to working with your hands and doing skilled trade work
- 3. Please explain in detail any painting experience you have.
- 4. Most importantly: Tell us about a time you went above and beyond for someone — at work, at home, or in your community — when you didn't have to, but you did it anyway. That answer matters to us more than anything else you could send.
- 5. What's the best phone number to reach you?
- One Last Thing...
Because we want to make sure you actually read this whole ad — and didn't just skim it — please include the phrase "Oak Strong" somewhere in your message. It's a small thing, but it tells us a lot about how you approach what you're asked to do.
We're not looking for the most experienced painter in Burlington.
We're looking for the right one.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: $20.00 - $29.00 per hour
Expected hours: 38.0 – 45.0 per week
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- Health insurance
- On-the-job training
- Opportunities for advancement
- Paid time off
- Professional development assistance
- Retirement plan
- Tools provided
License/Certification:
- driver's license and a reliable vehicle? (Required)
Work Location: In person
